The Search
by Kara Nightingale
Summary: For NatsumeSeries Contest. She needed to breathe, needed to think, needed to get out. So, she ran away. Now, his task is to find her before she gets into trouble. :5:


**This is an entry to NatsumeSeries Contest. Submission starts on June 21 and ends on July 21. For further information on the contest, contact Vione or Romantically Loveless.**

Disclaimer: Do not own Gakuen Alice. *sobs*

-

A brunette was sitting in a corner of the café, alone. People occasionally throwing glances at her as they have not seen her around before. She arrived this morning at the little town, roughly two hours ago, her engine broke down on her and she was towed to the town. She seemed nice, very polite but there seem to be something off with her. For instance, she would peer out the window constantly, frantically looking at any passing cars, as if she was waiting for someone or maybe, avoiding someone.

After a couple more hours of waiting, her car was finally fixed and ready to go. With a last parting glance at the small town, she starts up her car and floors her accelerator, wanting to get out of the small town as fast as she can. She had stayed there for too long and can't afford to waste another moment. Though she reminded herself that she should go back to visit the town sometime, it did seem like a nice place, but maybe after all this crap has been dealt and done with.

* * *

Natsume was pissed beyond reasons, his left hand crushing the can of soda that he was drinking previously before he found _her_ room empty. What seemed like ages later, he walked over to his room, threw himself on his chair and switched on his laptop, all the while thinking of ways to save this mess _she_ decided to dump on him, confirming that she is an idiot, that is if he had any doubt before, and how he would rain hell on her once he gets his hands on her.

Turning to his laptop that was fully ready to be use, he immediately went to the security cameras folder, searching for the previous night and this morning's files. He first needed to know what time she left and how she left, since her car is still in her garage right next to his at the moment, to decide his next move. It was a good thing he decided to set up a few security cameras around her house from the start, but he never would have guess that he would actually use it this way.

Going through multiple files later, he finally found it. There on his laptop screen was a brunette carrying two bags –one big, one small–, walking to an unknown car outside her house and speeding away, moments after she got into the driver's seat. All of this happening when it was three in the morning when he was away, handling _some_ business, business he finally solved; all the while foolishly thinking that she was asleep at home. He should have just drugged the dumb girl, there would be less trouble that way.

Back to the video. He's confirm that he has never seen the car before but by the looks of it, she had the keys to it and everything. Someone must have helped her with all this and he might know who just that person is. But before jumping to conclusions and possibly get his brains shoot out by her possible accomplice if he so happen to be wrong, he ran the car license plate in the government's database. After some time of waiting, he got the information he wanted. The car is a rental car, from a company called Kino Car Rental.

There was now the option between going to the place and cheating the answer out of the guy in charge or pray to God that the place did everything by computer. Opting to try his luck with God and a little hacking later, he got the name of the person who rented the car. Hotaru Imai. Turns out, he was lucky _and_ right.

Grabbing his laptop, his emergency bag pack and jacket, he got to his car and sped off to Imai's office. Not surprisingly, he found Imai at her office typing away. Figures, where else could the well-known ice queen be if not the office? Heck, Ruka almost couldn't get her to leave the place for their engagement dinner two weeks. Almost.

He barged into her office, ignoring the protest of her secretary and slams both his hands on the desk. "Where is she?" Not even flinching or reacting to the slam, Imai looks up, stares at him and takes off her glasses. "Took you long enough." Her facial expression creepily calm, he would have freaked out if he wasn't in his line of work for so long.

Gritting his teeth, not liking the fact that she knew what was going on and couldn't have cared enough to call him to save him all the trouble. "Well, since you obviously know what I'm talking about, tell me where she is now." Stressing the now.

"Well, I don't know about now but I do know where she was a few hours ago…" Cutting her off mid sentence, he asked "Be more specific, how many hours is a few?"

A little irritated that she got cut off, she continued, "A few hours as in 3 hours ago, at eight in the morning. She called me saying that she's in a small town, not far from Gotenba, roughly a half an hour drive. Her engine broke down." Smirking a little when she said the last part, almost like she had a hand in that happening.

Staring at the obviously concerned yet too stubborn to admit it woman in front of him, he turned away and walked out of the office, not before saying, "You could have just said that from the start and save us both the trouble." Not caring if there was a reply to his statement.

-

After a few hours of driving nonstop, he finally arrived at the small town. It was currently four in the evening. He pulled up at the nearby diner and entered the diner, sitting at a corner that overlook most of the town. Moments later, a teenage girl approaches the table, asking what he wants to eat. Ordering a cup of black coffee, a chicken pie and a huge chicken teriyaki sandwich, the girl walked back to the counter to place his order. He skipped lunch and breakfast today, the only thing he ate the whole day was a strawberry muffin. Who could blame the guy for being hungry?

Looking out the window, he started to assess in his mind which place he should go to ask about her. Having received training since he was 12 and officially became a spy since he was merely 14 years old, experience told him that asking anyone in the diner wouldn't do any good, since the place seem to be doing quite well. Meaning that the workers here would work on shift, and considering that it is currently 3pm, anyone from the morning shift that might have seen her would not be here at the moment and he didn't have time to go about to search for people who only might know something.

Calmly scanning the area with his eyes without looking suspicious, he spotted a convenient store, the kind of convenient store that is most probably run by the owner itself and has a helper or two around. Spotting an old lady inside the store, sitting behind the counter, his suspicions were confirmed. He would go over there once he's done with his meal.

-

Walking into the convenient store, Natsume calmly walked to the counter, making sure to exude confidence while he was doing so, and approached the old lady. Smiling a little, he took out his phone and showed the screen to the old lady, asking her if she had seen the brunette on the display screen. Upon the question, the old lady narrowed her eyes and gave him a good, long stare; not trusting him one bit.

Knowing that he would not get anywhere with the current progress, he put on his most charming smile and explained that the brunette is actually his fiancée, who decided to get cold feet, the day before their wedding and how he needed to know where his _beloved _ran away to. Hearing the story, the old lady softened up and told him that the girl left town at around noon, heading south east, presumably to Shizuoka.

Bowing slightly, Natsume thanked the old lady and left, but not before buying himself some snacks and beverages. He can already tell that tonight was going to be a long night, with a lot of driving.

Back in his car, he chucked all the stuff he just bought to the back seat and switched on his laptop. While waiting for his laptop to fully start up, he took his phone out and stared at the picture of the sleeping brunette, a faint smile in sight. Who knew that his onetime itch to take her picture would end up being used this way?

Though it is lucky he had a picture of her, knowing old ladies, no matter how cold hearted they seem, a little romantic crap would soften them up almost immediately. That's why before entering the convenient store; he decided to put that picture as his main display, to make their relationship seem real. Deciding to go with that story as his cover story from now on, he left her picture as his display, slightly admiring her sleeping form for a little while before stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

Typing away on his laptop, he hacked into the government's traffic system, cross checking with her number plate and car, to pin point where she's trying to get or where she last appeared on the streets. He needed to at least know where he's suppose to go before driving off, it would be totally useless if he drove in the opposite direction of her.

His laptop screen blinking, it showed that the last her car was seen is in the one of the towns near Mt Fuji. Tucking his laptop away, he put on his seatbelt and sped off in her direction.

* * *

Mikan finally decided to settle down, she was exhausted. Heck, anyone would be if they have been driving for almost the whole day since three in the morning till five in the evening, bar the four hours she was left with nothing to do when her engine died on her.

She decided to spend the night in one of the small towns near Mt Fuji. She didn't know why but she just suddenly felt like going there. The last time she was here was with her grandfather when she was younger and wanted to see Mt Fuji. She smiled at the memory, everything was so easy back then, and life was never this complicated.

Lying on the futon laid out on the floor, in the middle of the room, Mikan sighed. She really shouldn't have left home. Being out here without Natsume or the comfort to her home, she's beginning to relive her two weeks of paranoia, before Natsume came in and help her.

It all started roughly three months ago, when her grandfather passed away and left her a **large** sum of inheritance. It was a shock to her when she found out about her inheritance. Ever since she was young and after her grandfather took her in after her parents died in an accident, she and her grandfather lived a very normal life. It has never been hinted once in her life that her grandfather was actually a very wealthy man. That and she have never been bothered to read newspapers at all, since she found it boring.

It was later stated in his will that when her parents passed away, he decided to drop all his work, finding a temporary successor till she was old enough to take over the company and decided to start over with her, that she deserved a loving grandfather that would take good care of her and would always be by her side. He owed it that much to her mum for being a workaholic when she was younger. So, he bought a nice little house in the countryside, somewhere nice and quiet. She smiled at the sweet gesture her grandfather went through for her. He really did love her and she was grateful for having him.

After his will was revealed, that was when her trouble began. She began receiving threats telling her that she didn't deserve the inheritance and how _they_ would take it away from her, this continued on for about a month. She thought it was all some kind of sick prank, so she just left it as that, not bothering to search further.

That was until she came home one day to a box on her doorstep. Not being suspicious about it, she opened the box and was freaked out with what she found. There in the box, she found pictures of herself going about her daily life and a letter that was written in red ink, later identified to be cow's blood, that read '_I'll watch my back if I was you'_.

That was the last straw. She immediately went to the police after she got herself together. However, due to insufficient evidence and information, the police told her that they couldn't really help her and that it might just be a cruel joke. But if something similar happens, she should immediately go back to them and report about it.

After two weeks of endless torture and living her life not being able to breathe properly without jumping out of her skin, Hotaru gave her Natsume's number –which she got from Ruka–, saying that he should be able to help her with her problem. Without giving a second thought, she immediately calls him and arranges a meeting between them.

And there is when her second biggest problem began. It's not that she's not familiar with Natsume's quirky behavior and can't stand it. On the contrary, she and Natsume have known each other since they were toddlers, practically grew up with each other. That was until he suddenly disappeared at the age of 14, coming and going from her life as he like for the past twelve years after his disappearance. Never saying bye before leaving and always giving her one hell of a scare when he returned.

Hotaru always claimed that if she and Natsume met in the different time and place, weren't so dense and stubborn, they would be happily married and having a big family in a little town. She chuckled at the thought. Maybe Hotaru was right after all. She may be twelve years too late to realize but maybe, just maybe she has always liked him from when they were younger. But she would really appreciate it if she didn't have to notice her feelings now.

During the meeting to discuss her case, she found out that he had joined the espionage game when he was fourteen and after twelve years of it, he just quit the game, got bored of it he said. Then, he opened a little business a few months ago, specializing to help people in sticky situation like hers, with his skills and experiences. And next thing you know, he moved in with her, with the identity of her boyfriend, was everywhere she go, she felt safe, she felt at home and one and a half month later, she's here, in this room, reminiscing.

It's not like he's doing a sucky job with protecting her, he's actually doing a wonderful job protecting her. It's just that he's doing too good of a job that she's beginning to notice things she normally wouldn't, like how when he was thinking hard, he would frown a little or how when he eats, he has a tendency of eating the things he dislike first before eating his favourites. She was even beginning to find his quirky behavior cute and that was when she decided that she needed to get out of the house. She can't even differentiate which was more dangerous anymore, the fact that there are people out to get her or her feelings for him. With that last thought in mind, exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.

* * *

Arriving at the little town, he noticed that it was already eight at night. Immediately driving to where he last saw her car, he continued till he saw her car park at one of the street. He turned into the street, parked his car nearby and decided to search on foot from there on; he already knew she was in this area, so it would be easier to search this way. Along the road were inns, looking around, he found an inn that was the kind of style he knew she go for and walked to the inn.

Carrying his bag pack, he casually walked over to the front part of the inn. Standing at the counter for a few minutes later and still not getting any response, he ringed the bell. Moments later, he heard some shuffling and a young girl pops out from the door. Slightly startled at the man before her, she gaped at him. That is until Natsume coughed rather loudly to snap her out of it.

Embarrassed, she immediately asked him if he wanted a room and that there are still a few available rooms in the inn. Getting bored, he immediately described Mikan, charmed the poor girl over with his story about Mikan getting cold feet and asked if Mikan was staying here. The girl seems to remember Mikan and told him to hold on for a second while she go through the book (the place was run really old school) and find out which room Mikan is currently occupying.

And just when Natsume was starting to get annoyed with the waiting, the girl suddenly motion him to come over and told her that Mikan is currently occupying room 202, which is the second room on the second floor. Getting the spare key from the girl, after telling her that he wanted to surprise Mikan, he got on his way to the room.

Upon entering the room, he found Mikan asleep in the middle of the room. Gently dropping his bag pack on the floor, so as to not wake her, he walk over to her and contemplated whether he should smack her awake, since she deserve it so badly. However, when he saw how tired she was, he decided to take a bath first, let her sleep a bit more, before doing so.

Sitting at one of the corners of the room, he stared at the idiot sleeping so soundly, like she didn't have a care in the world. He finished bathing an hour ago but could not bring himself to wake her up; she looked so peaceful when she was asleep. It was refreshing to see her like that, compared to how she was for the past month and a half. Though she tried very hard to be cheerful, optimistic, and almost succeeding, there would be times where she looked so out of it, her stare was blank and when he snapped her out of it, she would act all cheerful again, like nothing happen. But he knew better.

Still staring at the idiot, he shook his head, sighing. He couldn't believe that she actually registered this room under her real name. After all that secretive running away from him, going as far as getting Imai's help to cover her tracks, you would think the fool would have thought of using another name when she was registering the room. If he didn't have already solved her matter for good last night, she would most probably be kidnapped and dead by now.

And let's just say that solving her problem had not been an easy task. The person who was in charge of the whole operation was her uncle, an uncle she didn't know about. He's actually her grandfather's cousin's illegitimate son. He was jealous and angry that he didn't inherit anything when her grandfather died, clearly thinking that he should have.

So, in the beginning, he decided to scare her first. That was up until the third week, he saw that she was not afraid and didn't seem to be affected. So, he decided to bring it up to the next level. He wanted to kill her and get all her inheritance. With his status of being the last heir of the family, the inheritance would easily be inherited by him should something happen to her. He then made a deal with a dangerous man, name Persona, a well known assassin in the underworld, to kill her. Person is said to be compassionless.

Going under some serious transformation and a lot of acting skills, Natsume managed to become the uncle's trusted right hand man. But after searching around a few times, he realized that the man didn't trust anyone with his secrets. Hence, Natsume decided to approach the matter in a different way. Using a lot of trickery and a few persuasive skills of his, he managed to cause distrust between the two men and let nature take its course. When there is distrust between two liars and one of them is an assassin with reputation to boot, the other normally would not walk out of their _discussion_ alive.

Suddenly hearing his name being whispered, Natsume snapped out of it and saw Mikan still sleeping silently. He can never imagine his life without her after living with her for this couple of months. He would protect her no matter what, especially that annoying smile of hers. Maybe it was time to face those feelings of his that he's been having for her since he was a kid.

A faint smile on his face, he quietly got into the futon, right next to her. He guess, scaring her silly when she wakes up and find him would be interesting. Boy, was she in for a wakeup call.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Haha.. I managed to finish this in the nick of time. Don't really know what I'm doing writing a fanfic when I have exams and assignments piled up against me.

Anyway, I would like to thank both Vione and Romantically Loveless for holding this contest. I had fun writing, even if it didn't really make much sense. I would also like to shout out that I really, REALLY like Vione's stories. So, this story is kind of dedicated to her since she won't be writing anymore. *sobs*


End file.
